Characters In "Ghost Hounds"

Zachary Foxworth
Zak is the main character in my strip. He is an expression of my own curiosity about life, its mystery and the unseen forces we all sense intuitively but try to deny intellectually. Adults have told Zak that things don't go "bump in the night," yet his childhood awareness, keen and purile, has heard the "bump" of something beyond the senses. As a fan of "X-Files," he thinks of himself as a Fox Mulder, ready to take on the paranormal and other fringe subjects, with a will to discover the truth. His ambitions include becoming a ghost hunter and an investigative reporter of the "muckraking" variety. He already is a reporter for the school paper, which doesn't always appreciate his iconoclasm, but he expresses himself freely regardless of consequences.

Samantha Woods
Sam is to Zak as Scully was to Mulder (this is Zak's view, not necessarily Sam's). As for her personality, she is a combination of Scully with a bit of "Lucy" thrown in. Her main interest is astronomy, but she does share Zak's curiosity about the unknown. Sam, however, believes that the unknown exists only until science discovers its underlying cause. She is enough of an adventurer for truth -or perhaps just a seeker of fun- to join Zak on his many escapades into what she sees as the nonsense land of the paranormal. But to her credit, she maintains the open mind of a "true skeptic," which writer Richard Milton defines as "one who sincerely seeks after truth and who has the courage to rebut scientific myth and false beliefs with empirical data and sound logic."

Derwin Gaily
After Kennedy was assassinated, an expression emerged in popular culture to categorize those people who questioned the official version of the event promulgated by the Warren Commission, "conspiracy theorists." Derwin is very much one of those people, a conspiracy theorist from the heart, with good intentions and a deep sense of conscience. He does go overboard, at times, seeing conspiracy where there might be other more tenable explanations, but it typifies the personality ever vigilant of the excesses of government and the ruling elite. His eyes are also on members of the enigmatic secret societies, like the Illuminati, the Shriner Freemasonry and the Knights of Malta and how these groups, together with his own government, might be influencing the world toward the destruction of freedom and human rights. Derwin loves his "unalienable rights" and means to protect them. As a consequence, his interests lean to the law, social activism and politics.

Cassandra Duvall
Their are many words to describe groups of people that are used without thought or consideration as to how they might hurt feelings and reputations. One of these words is "Goth." Cassandra will not allow herself to be limited, defined or hurt by the word; she defines herself by simply living as she so chooses. "Weird" might, then, be used by some to describe her chosen lifestyle, though she may call it "deathstyle," for she is obsessed by what death may mean. Not that death scares her; on the contrary, it allures and fascinates her with its mystery. She is quite convinced that death is no end but a continuation of personality, so why not embrace it also as part of ones life? "Crazy?" Well, perhaps some might use this word, but then, major religions must also be crazy for accepting survival after death as a matter of faith.

Kazuki Kurosawa
Kazuki is probably my strangest character and potentially the most contraversial. But he represents a growing concern for the intrusion of technology into our lives and how it may change us as humans, both our sentience and or physiology. He will remind most people of the "Borg" from Star Trek, though he is most certainly NOT controlled by a centralized hive intelligence. He is totally in control of his own destiny and his own physicality, with a mind all his own. As a culture, the Japanese seem to embrace technology with amazing speed and affinity. Kazuki is an expression of this attitude, brought to a logical, if not inescapable, conclusion.

Karloff (The Ghost Sniffing Hound, well, maybe!)
What would the "Ghost Hounds" do if they didn't have an actual hound among their number. Karloff is a ghost sniffing dog, or so Zak's crazy Aunt Celeste claims (Karloff belongs to Aunt Celeste). Karloff is given ample chances to test his ability as he is always out with the gang whenever they look for ghosts. Karloff is a curmudgeon, finding fault with just about everything and everyone. He is opinionated, too. Loyalty is not a factor in his canine make-up, nor does he take commands lying down (which he never does, on command, that is). But in spite of all this, he's a dog you'll grow to love.